Besarki: So I looked at one of my notebooks with my original story in it and when I saw the name of one of my main characters, it looked foreign to me. That's probably a bit of a hint that I'm not writing that one enough O.o

I wanted to make this a really special chapter, but I couldn't think of anything. It's not a complete filler, but it doesn't progress the plot much. I was thinking of things that related to volumes 19 and 20, but the only thing I could come up with was Naka. And so I thought, why not? He's a minor character, but he has backstory, too. Why not delve into his character a little bit. It may help later...

AND EEEEEEEEEK! I'M SO BUSY!! I've gone from managing one fanfic and a possible sequel to juggling four in a matter of two weeks. EEP! Speaking of sequels and arcs that would occupy them...

THE HAO ARC: I've been looking at what's best for this fic and it's looking like scrapping the idea might be the best outlet. However, a lot of people wanted it so I figured that I might write a spin-off (Thanks to Aoki Aya for the idea!) rather than completely discard it. A have another spin-off in the making. It involves that nutcase Italian guy that everyone seemed to love so much. So, maybe I'll create a separate fic for Living For The Moment extra stories rather than risk polluting the main one with a bad plotline. Eh? What do you think? :D

AND SPEAKING OF ITALIANS: GUESSSSS WHAT?!?! The multi-talented Kumiho-Kitsune will be translating this story into Italian! How exciting, right? I'm pumped! (We determined this a while ago, but I keep forgetting to say it XD )

Last thing! *Wheezes* I've been going back and editing chapters, as I said before, and I made one major mess-up. I accidentally overwrote the chapter, "Naka" with a later chapter. I would have never noticed, but thankfully, someone did. Many, MANY thanks to xmegaminoaix for realizing my mistake and pointing it out for me. As promised, this chapter is dedicated to you. *Beats self over the head with a crowbar*

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Save me, I'm lost
Oh lord, I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
Just save me from being confused
Wait, I'm wrong
I can't do better than this
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for

~Show Me What I'm Looking For, Carolina Liar

"Kaa-san!" I whispered harshly. "Kaa-san, wake up!"

"Mmrph," She groaned. Her hand flew up and pushed me over.

"Hey!" I seethed. I was trying to be quiet since Redseb and Seyrarm were still asleep, but she was making it really difficult. "Kaa-san! Get up!"

"What...?" She drawled grudgingly.

"It's Naka! He--"

"Hana--Shut. Up," Redseb growled as he buried himself deeper in his futon. Redseb and Seyrarm were staying in a really cheap motel during their visit. It didn't use beds like most of America, but if you paid for a room, they'd let you use an unlimited number of futons. They let me and Kaa-san stay with them despite how crowded it was. Especially with Kaa-san's obsession with leaving Naka out at night. Waaaay cramped, though I guess we couldn't complain. It was a lot comfier than the dirt.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself not to say anything. "As I was saying--" I started once more, only to be interrupted again by none other than the infamous Redseb.

"HOLY SHIT!" He suddenly yelled. I resisted the urge to turn around and pummel him.

"What?!" Kaa-san demanded, furiously. She held her hand over her eyes. It was as if she were trying to block out the sunlight streaming in through the blinds.

"I've been trying to tell you that--"

"HOLY SHIT!" Yes, Redseb, we heard you the first time. Seyrarm apparently shared my feelings as she quickly sat up and smacked her brother with her pillow.

"Can it, Redseb!" He didn't speak again. I didn't either. Seyrarm was only half-awake and her eyes were only half open. Easy-going as the girl was, there was something distinctly evil about her slitted red eyes.

Kaa-san was up by now. Her eyes were gold, but they were just as lethal as Seyrarm's. Those two probably got along really well.

"What do you want, Hana?" She hissed.

My hand shook in fright as I pointed up at Naka who was huddled in the corner. She looked up at him, then looked back.

"What?" She demanded.

I stared at her like she was crazy. "What do you mean 'what'?! He's got ears! EARS!" I pointed almost accusingly at the giant oni.

I wasn't kidding. When I woke up this morning, I noticed something different about the big guy. Being exhausted, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, despite how unbelievably obvious it was.

When I did finally come around, I was shocked. Though they had definitely not been there yesterday, I suddenly noticed that Naka had somehow acquired big almost furry-looking ears. His tail already separated him from normal onis, but ears? Too weird.

And here, Kaa-san didn't even seem phased! He was her spirit ally! Even if he was already dead, she should at least be a little worried!

"So? You have ears too."

"I'M NOT AN ONI!" I fumed. "Stop avoiding it! Why does he have ears?"

"You're blowing this way out of proportion," She insisted. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened. See his tail? That hasn't always been there. It grew overnight a few years ago."

It grew overnight. Just like his ears. Now I was really confused.

"But why?"

She stared boredly for a minute before answering. "Because he's forgetting what he used to look like. He's forgetting his old behavior and his habits. Ridding himself of the qualities that landed him in hell in the first place."

Redseb and Seyrarm were listening intently now, too. They were probably as confused as I was.

What Kaa-san was saying now made a little sense, but it still clashed with something incredibly important. There was rule, a fundamental rule that all shamans knew.

After hundreds of years, spirits may begin to forget what they used to look like. With the loss of their true form, they began to lose their limitations and evolved into holy spirits.

There was only one problem:

Naka came from hell. Hell-bound spirits didn't have the ability to evolve into holy spirits unless they were purified first, like Imari had been. As an oni, he definitely wasn't purified. By forgetting his true form as a hellbound spirit, the only thing he could amount to would be an evil spirit, right? However, Kaa-san didn't seem worried about that possibility. It was like she'd dismissed it all together.

But now I was rambling, which only led to confusing myself further.

"Enough internal monologues," She scolded, then proceeded to mutter, "You're giving me a headache..."

"But I don't get it!" I complained. "Isn't this a bad thing?"

She glared. "Have you been listening to me...at all?" She grabbed her band from its resting place next to her futon. "Obviously not. Clean out your ears and pay attention!" I stumbled backward and fell back against the wall. She rolled her eyes. "Like all spirits, Naka-Oni was alive once. It's likely that he was human, but I can't be sure. Anyway, during his lifetime, he did very little good for the world. As a result, he was condemned to hell when he died.

"A few years ago, I found him while searching for a spirit ally. He was wandering the Earth after being too weak to remain in hell. I suppose that, more than that, he just didn't fit in seeing as how he isn't a real oni. I don't know why he took the form of a Naka-Oni when he had more will than a simple mass of feelings, but, for whatever the reason, he did. Probably a screw up somewhere in the line.

Anyway, I when I met Naka-Oni, I tried to get him to go back to hell where he belonged. I wasn't sold on Yoh's 'any spirit can be saved' crap, and I have a past with onis that I'd rather not remember. However, no matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't stop following me. Apparently 'demon sight,' as he calls it, is a rare ability--" I had to interrupt her there.

"Hang on!" I said, throwing my hands up. "Are you trying to tell me that you can understand him?!"

She looked at me like she couldn't believe I was asking this. "If I couldn't, how would I know any of this?"

Ouch. She got me there.

"Anyway, to sum up the rest of a very long and boring story, I'll just say that I promised to help him return to the main branch of the Great Spirit if he helped me for a while. Truthfully, though, I just got lucky in finding him. He could've made amends with anyone." Naka stared at her with his usual grumpy expression. When I first met Naka, I thought the relationship between him and Kaa-san was just a master-servant relationship. I didn't think it was like mine and Matamune's or Tou-san and Amidamaru's, but apparently, it was. He truly cared about what happened to her, and even to me now. He was a good guy, that Naka.

"But enough of this," She said, throwing off the blanket and pushing herself to her feet. "Since we obviously aren't getting any more sleep this morning, hurry up and get ready. We're heading out." She strutted over to the door and left the room. Naka crawled after her.

The story was long and elaborate, but I didn't miss the fact that there were gaps in it. I have a feeling that there was more to what she said than I was picking up.

And more than what she was letting on.

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---麻倉---
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Japan

Keiko

I could not retain my tired sigh as I listened to the frantic banter in the background.

Several weeks ago, I received a nervous phone call from a former pupil of ours, Tamamura Tamao. She was panicking over something about my grandson, Hana. She was talking unimaginably quickly and slurring all her words so I couldn't quite make out the matter until she finally ran out of energy and slowed down.

Hana, who had gone missing several months prior, had just called the onsen. I had thought this to be good news until Tamao told me that he had found his mother and that they were near Italy for some reason. He had no intention of returning home. My hopes were decimated.

Tamao begged me to come up from Izumo just until she got a hold of her bearings. I obliged, giving Redseb and Seyrarm the money they'd been asking for so they could go visit America and then sending them off. My time in Funbari was meant to be short, but Tamao hadn't recovered from her manic worrying and I was forced to stay. I would've felt too guilty to return home, anyway, though.

And now here I stood, in the corner of the room while Tamao argued seemingly endlessly with Hana's kindergarten teacher.

"No... Yes, I know it has... No, I really do not have any idea when he's coming back... Of course I'm not just keeping him here! I already told you--he's visiting his father in Kyoto. I don't know when he'll be returning, but I assure you that as soon as he does, he'll be returning to school. ...Yes. ...Yes, I understand how important schooling is... As soon as he comes back... Good day." And she hung up the old phone. She placed her head in her hands and let it rest there while she breathed heavily.

"Tamao..." I said, trying to sound comforting.

"He may never come back," She wept. I placed my hand on her back.

"No, don't say that. You know he'll come back. He just wanted to go out on his own for a little bit."

"He's seven. That's too young to be out on his own." I knew it was, and I agreed with her. Still, this wasn't something I could tell her. She'd be an even bigger wreck if she knew that I felt the same way she did about this.

"He's fine. Plus, he has his mother with him. Isn't that who he went out to find in the first place?" I asked. Tears only ran faster down her face. I wasn't very good at this anymore.

Everything had spiraled downhill when Yoh died. Tamao became jittery, Anna started sensing things that couldn't possibly exist, Mikihisa died, and I began to forget the compassionate words I had once been known for. He changed our lives, and we were all trying and failing to live without him.

But more than any of us, the one who was impacted the most would probably be Hana. Though he had never met his father, he was affected by him. Anyone could see that he resented being compared to him. We were trying relentlessly to ease ourselves by thinking of Hana as another Yoh, and that left him with a burden he couldn't escape. It only got worse when Anna left.

We knew Anna was strong, but when she went five years without contacting us, it was only natural for us to assume that she had died on the road. After all, she left with no spirit ally or any means of sustenance. Even with the 1080, there was only so much she could do. When I heard from Tamao that she was alive, I was surprised, but I knew I shouldn't have been.

The girl was losing her mind, but she was dedicated. I'd give her that.

Again, I sighed, and my eyes trailed out the window. That same Eagle-Owl was sitting on our sill again. He'd been here many times before even though his kind didn't breed lower than Hokkaido. An odd bird, he was.

"Yes, I see you," I muttered quietly. The owl cocked his head, but I turned away from him.

"Come on, Tamao," I said, taking her hand and helping her up from the chair she was sitting in. "Let's go get something for lunch."

For a fraction of a second, I felt the strangest spiritual presence coming from the area behind me. I whipped around, but there was no one there.

"What's wrong?" Tamao asked, rubbing her eyes.

I shook my head. "Nothing," I insisted. "Let's just go." A chill ran down my spine, but I continued forward, dragging Tamao into the kitchen while allowing my hair to cover my expression.

In the instant that I had felt the presence, I had noticed something else. I'd seen something...but it had been blurry, and I couldn't be sure as to what it was. Still, I had an idea. I was probably wrong, in fact, I'm almost sure I was, but it was the only shape that fit the image. I couldn't be sure, but it looked sort of like...

A Fox.

Besarki: Can you say FILLER?! Well, mostly anyway. It has hidden (and not so hidden) plot points strewn everywhere.

So, I was really not in the mood to be writing today. I'm majorly sick and don't really feel like doing anything. However, I have a fanfic to update AND I have finals. Wow, how fun, right? -.-

My copy of Mantarite STILL hasn't been shipped. I'm a very impatient Shamanite. I WANT MY MANTARITE! IT CAME OUT YESTERDAY! I DON'T WANNA WAIT ALL WEEKEND! Sigh. Still, I'll have to wait for a while because it's not like it gets here in three days. CURSES!

Anywho, I'm going to try to keep the next few chapters light. Why? Because the major conflict starts chapter 22 or chapter 23 :( (depends on how long I feel like procrastinating) It's very sad, and I'll be totally distraught writing it. *Sob* Still, you'll notice certain things that may strike you as odd. Though you can probably guess, I'm setting up for it. :)

"A Fox" Hehehehe. Guess all you want. You'll never guess what that's for... But you better believe it's important. Fox was capitalized for one, which adds to the importance of it... Hee hee! You'll never figure it out!

Okay, this is the last of my rambles for today. I've added more clues to my website, including music which changes depending on what's coming up next in the story. I'm kinda late with all this seeing as how the story is nearing its end (sort of). But, I can't change that.

I'm off to find cold medicine before I keel over from this wicked cold. Hasta la bye bye! (Fluent Spanglish right there ;))